Friday 30th October

Metro

Article 1
Headline: Islam-obsessed girl disappears
Section: Home Digest
Written by: ?
Page: 4

Outline: This brief is just under 60 words long and features a photo of 14 year old Sarah Dunn. It describes that Ms Dunn "...vanished after becoming obsessed with Islam...". This statement is attributed to the Police, in an extended version of the story in the Metro's sister publication the Daily Mail, the Police are quoted as saying that Ms Dunn had "...gone missing after developing a 'keen interest' in Islam...". The Daily Mail version attributes the "...increasingly obsessed..." statement to friends (3rd paragraph).

There's a clear discrepancy here between the story appearing in the 2 papers both of which belong to Associated Newspapers.

The Metro brief mentions that Ms Dunn was last seen after an argument with her parents about studying the Koran, it states that "...she may have been brainwashed by hardline Muslims..."

Overall the news brief paints a very negative view of Islam and the use of language such as brainwashing almost portrays the religion as a cult.

In short this is a tragic story about a teenage girl with a freewill having a conflict of interest with those around her. It has nothing to do with Islam and to present the article with words such as "Islam-obsessed" or "brainwashed by hardline Muslims" only serves to fuel Islamophobia particularly amongst parents of teenagers.

Article Verdict: Negative

Article 2
Headline: Bibles are seized in Malaysia
Section: News
Written by: ?

Page: 20

Outline: This article is roughly 70 words long and reports on the confiscation of 15,000 "...inflammatory..." bibles in Malaysia by authorities this year because they "...referred to 'God' as 'Allah'...", this is described in the article as "...a banned translation in the Muslim-majority country..."

There is no description about who has decribed the Bibles as "inflammatory" which is the word used in the opening sentence. This may imply that the authorities have deemed them to be inflammatory or it may be the case that this is a word selected by the journalist writing this story.

If it's the latter then it injects a subjective and unfounded viewpoint into what is otherwise a factual story. It's inclusion may make readers think there is hostility towards Christians in Malaysia when it is in fact a prosperous & peaceful multi-ethnic/multi-religious society.

Considering that the source of the word "inflammatory" is not provided it can be assumed that its been inserted into the article by the journalist in which case this article has to be given a negative rating.

Article Verdict: Negative

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Tuesday 27th October

Manchester Evening News (City Edition)

Article 1
Headline: Islamic scholar jailed for trying to kill father-in-law
Section: News
Written by: Chris Osuh
Page/URL: Link
Accompanying Photos:

Outline: This article from the online edition of the M.E.N reports on the sentencing of a man who tried to murder his father-in-law.

As is evidently clear from the headline the readers are left in no doubt as to the religious background of the man as well as his profession, he is described as an "Islamic Scholar". By its definition the word "scholar" is used to denote someone with mastery in a particular field of study.

The 2nd paragraph of the article states that the man, Mohammed Saghir "...dedicated his life to studying the Koran and aspired to become an imam". If someone is aspiring to become something then clearly it would be premature to say the least to describe them as a "scholar" or master of a particular discipline.

The significance of using this word in the context of the article is that it wrongly gives readers the view that a person fully versed in Islamic law went on to try and kill one of his own family members. If the person was indeed a "scholar" of Islamic law then he would have found very clear and explicit rulings within Islamic law condemning murder.

However readers will no doubt think that if someone who's meant to uphold the values and act as a role model for the islamic faith can commit such an act what does that say about the faith?

The rest of the article describes how the man planned and carried out the attack and at one point it states that he felt remorse at his actions and asked his father-in-law to write a letter forgiving him.

In the second to last paragraph it states that the victim "...was urged to write a statement saying he forgave his son-in-law by family and religious elders who did not want to see the case go to court". This implies that "religious elders" wanted to cover up the crime when in fact if the elders were truly "religious" as Osuh states they would have pushed for the opposite i.e. for the case to go to court as Islam does not condone such acts.

The article along with a very unflattering photo of Mohammed Saghir does no favours to the image of Islam nor to that of Imaams and Muslim community leaders. Chris Osuh inaccurately describes Saghir as a "Scholar" when clearly by his own comments at the beginning of the article he is most definitely not. In summary this is another article that will further help to propogate a negative view of Islam and Muslims thanks to classic tabloid reporting by Osuh.

Article Verdict: Negative

Friday 9th October - Part 2

Manchester Evening News (City Edition)

Article 1
Headline: Keep out of city centre, rugby fans are warned
Section: North West Today
Written by: ?
Page: 2

Outline: This brief appears towards the top of page 2 and refers to the planned anti-Islam rally in Manchester City Centre by the extremist group the English Defence League (EDL) on Saturday 10th October.

The article reports that rugby fans travelling to Old Trafford have been warned to stay away from the city centre to avoid what's described as a "protest" by the EDL which it describes as a "...right wing group..."

The article goes on to describe how the EDL plans to hold a "...demonstration..." against "...Islamic Extremism..." and that there will be a counter protest by "...the Unite Against Fascism Group..."

The article ends with a reference to Manchester Central MP Tony Lloyd and his message to people to stay away and also with a message in bold on the last line which reads ">> See Potsbag page 10".

There is one big glaring error in this news brief, the planned rally by the EDL is incorrectly described as a protest against Islamic Extremism. Now usually journalists are the inquisitive type and one would normally expect them to do their job properly and investigate exactly what type of group the EDL is? Of course the EDL's self professed aim is to 'protest against Islamic Extremism" but the truth is more sinister as their real aim is to protest against Islam and the presence of Muslims in the UK.

This is not the first rally planned by the EDL, they have staged similar marches in Birmingham which have been violent and high profile. For journalists this fact should not be difficult to find out.

At no point in the brief does it describe that the EDL have staged a similar rally and that it descended into violence, it doesn't describe that the group is largely made of up football hooligans out to cause trouble, it doesn't describe that at previous rallies their members have brandished hate messages on placards like "No More Mosques" and chanted slogans like "Muslims Out!".

These messages show that this group isn't interested in protesting against extremism but rather it is a fascist group targeting a group of people based solely on their faith. That, Ladies and Gentlemen is what is commonly known as an Extremist group. However all these facts are 'hidden' from the reader in this news brief so as to deprive them of the facts.

It also seeks to malign the image of the Unite Against Fascism (UAF) Group which has decided to stand up for Muslims. The news brief has successfully painted the picture of the EDL as protesting against "Islamic Extremism" and Unite Against Fascism are presented as planning to stage a "counter-protest" i.e. a protest against the EDL's stance in other words the readers will think why is this group trying to stop a group protesting against extremism? Does the paper want people to think that UAF supports extremism?

This is yet another example of clever 'Unspeak' i.e. smuggling in a hidden argument to influence readers.

It's not hard to forget the high profile that the media decided to give to the small number of members belonging to the Al Ghuraaba group when they protested by brandishing violent placards in response to the Danish Cartoons. We were reminded over & over again about the messages and made to think that maybe Muslims at large supported this tiny fringe group.

Unfortunately this time round the EDL is getting nowhere near as much exposure to highlight their extremist intent.

This news brief actualy supports their attempts to deceive the wider public into thinking that they're stance is just and noble when this couldn't be further from the truth.

For this reason this news brief is given a "Negative" rating.

Article Verdict: Negative


Article 2
Headline: Racist League
Section: Postbag
Written by: John Leech, MP, Manchester Withington
Page: 10

Outline: This isn't really an article but a letter sent into the M.E.N by the MP for Manchester Withington the Rt Hon John Leech.

In complete contrast to the news brief above John Leech's letter is an attempt to tell readers about the true intent of the EDL which he accurately describes in the opening words of his letter as "A RACIST group..." and how they are planning to hold an "...anti-Muslim rally aimed at inciting hatred and stirring up fear on our streets"

He speaks favourable about a petition organised by the Unite Against Fascism Group and encourages all readers to sign it by even providing the web address which is www.manchesteruaf.org

Unlike the M.E.N news brief above Mr Leech does refer to the previous rallies held by the EDL and how these have displayed the groups' "...Xenophobia and racially motivated thuggery..."

He also explains his very reasoned argument for banning the protest which he explains is "...not about gagging a legitimate group - it's about standing up for what is right and not letting our tolerance and free speech be hijacked by fascists who...would do away with this freedom in an instant.

Having read the letter by Mr Leech my first question was 'why did the M.E.N not use extracts from the letter in its earlier news brief, expecially considering that it did refer to another Manchester based MP and conveyed his message?' How did Mr Lloyd make the cut but not Mr Leech?

Mr Leech's letter could well have been used as a press release by the paper and used to bring a bit of balance to the M.E.N's atrocious news brief which all but stops short of publicly endorsing the EDL through its shameful mis-reporting.

A reference at the bottom of the News Brief telling people to go to the Postbag isn't enough, Mr Leech's comments should have been used in the main body of the M.E.N article. Perhaps the decision was taken not to use his comments because they contrasted very starkly with the M.E.N's take on the EDL protest i.e. the M.E.N blindly believed what the EDL said it would be protesting about rather than doing their job properly and actually investigating what the EDL were all about.

It could be argued that the M.E.N published Mr Leech's letter and there is a reference at the end of the news brief thus the readers would have got to see his comments. However by publshing his letter in the Postbag quite clearly shows that these are Mr Leech's opinions and thus personal to him, this could influence how receptive people are to Mr Leech's message.

Whilst Mr Leech's letter is positive my rating will be based on the M.E.N's conduct instead which deserves a "Negative" rating.

Article Verdict: Negative

Friday 9th October - Part 1

Metro

Article 1
Headline: Quarter of the World is Muslim
Section: News
Written by: Jo Steele
Page: 27

Outline: This article focuses on a study conducted by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life report and its findings that 1 in 4 people in the World are Muslim.

The article features quite prominently on page 27 and is accompanied by a colour map which highlights some of the key countries and their Muslim populations as a proportion of the total.

On the whole the article is presented in a very factual manner and details some of the statistics and ‘interesting’ facts i.e. that Muslims in countries where Islam is not the majority religion outnumber Muslims in some mainly Islamic countries.

In fact the article would have been a very strong candidate for a “Neutral” rating had it not been for Jo Steele injecting her own opinionated views into the story which firmly pushes this into “Negative” territory.

In the fourth paragraph she writes that “Indonesia, which traditionally practices a more tolerant Islam has the World’s largest Muslim population”.

The question here is, what is meant by “…a more tolerant Islam…”?? The implication quite clearly is that as the Indonesians practice a “more tolerant” version of Islam then the real version must be less tolerant in other words intolerant.

This is yet another classic example of ‘Unspeak’.

Through a careful selection of words Steele has smuggled in a personal opinion and made what should have been an objective article into a biased article portraying a negative image of Islam i.e. a religion that is intolerant.

No surprises therefore that Steele’s article gets a “Negative” rating for using manipulative language to influence the readers opinions about Islam.


Article Verdict: Negative

Thursday 8th October

Manchester Evening News (City Edition)

Article 1
Headline: United front on wrecked graves
Section: News
Written by: ?
Page: 14

Outline: This article appears on page 14 towards the bottom of the page, it occupies a very low profile position and it could be argued it's almost 'hidden'.

It reports on the Islamophobic attack on 20 Muslim graves in Manchester's Southern Cemetry.

It describes the attack as a "race hate attack" and refers to the perpetrators as "thugs". It features comments by a spokesman from the Muslim Jewish Forum of Manchester who is quoted as describing the attack as "Islamophobic" and "Incomprehensible".

The article ends with numbers for crimestoppers (0800 555 111) and the Police (0161 856 6151) that people can contact if they have further information.

The article is well written and makes an important point in using the term Islamophobia, which will help educate readers about this type of hate crime which remains grossly under-reported in the mainstream media.

In terms of its shortcomings the article could have been placed in a more prominent position rather than being buried at the bottom of page 14.

From a big picture point of view the article gets a positive rating as it presents the story in a sympathetic manner.

Article Verdict: Positive

Article 2
Headline: Shariah expert on hand to help George Davies clients
Section: Business
Written by: ?
Page: 5

Outline: This article appears in the business section and profiles a woman called Tasnim Khalid who works for a law firm and specialises in Shariah (Islamic) law.

The article describes how Ms Khalid's skills "...will allow her to offer a service of special interest to her Muslim clients." It goes into some brief detail to describe her areas of specialism. One of the paragraphs features comments from Ms Khalid where she describes how her knowledge of both the British Legal system and Shariah Law will help "...ensure there is no conflict between the law of the land and religious law".

The article features a photo of Ms Khalid as well.

In summary it is a well written and factual article with none of the sensationalism that is usually associated with any sort of reference to Shariah law. It seeks to show how in this particular case Shariah law will help meet the needs of the clients of what is described as a law firm with the "...second largest private client department in Manchester".

Article Verdict: Positive

Back after another Snooze!

I won't make any excuses....trying to run a blog like Manchetser Evening Snooze, which requires much analyses & scrutiny, as a 1 man show is more than I can handle at times especially when I have a regular day job to hold down. However I will try and post on a best endeavours basis....I promise!

Also, taking some time off has allowed me to have a rethink about the scope and purpose of Manchester Evening Snooze. Specifically is it sensible to limit scrutiny about coverage of Islam & Muslims to just 2 newspapers?

I feel that it isn't.

During the course of any given day, week or month, I see numerous sources....far too many to list here which either report of Muslims & Islam or refer to them.

It's for that purpose I have decided that from now on I will report on any newspaper/website/tv programme etc that mentions or covers Islam and Muslims and report back with some analyses on this site.

Stay tuned, Manchester Evening Snooze will be posting again very soon!

Salaam (Peace)